By Victor Alewo Adoji
The Hip-Hop/Rap music artist, The Brain Cell, in 2019 released an album titled, “some people are so poor all they have is money”. This is obviously against the run-of-play considering there is another age long averment that “money answers all things”.
The confusion therein is largely explained in the following narrative: “They (people who are so poor all they have is money) focus all their energy and time on making money. Their self-esteem depends on how much they make, not even on how much they posses. They are nuanced to things that might impact or endanger their income and it’s height. All they base their decisions on is financial profit. It’s the only factor they take into consideration, which makes them vulnerable and unstable”.
The Igala United FC has proven that what most of our youths need is not money but self-belief and opportunity. Unarguably, money in the sense of wealth is a product and product itself is the outcome of a process. The process is the phase where/when creativity, talent and industry delineate and define.
In five (5) months, the unbeaten Igala United FC (IUFC) has featured in the National League One Division 3 with three of the boys on their way to earning bigger ‘bucks’. It’s good to be a fan of Arsenal, Chelsea, ManU, ManCity, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, PSG, Bayern or any other team for that matter but it is patriotic and great to be a fan of Igala United FC.
In similar vein, Memuna Abaji, Jummai Joseph, Thompson Makolo, Sunday Atabo, Onoja Okpanachi, AIO, Okanyi, Ejura (“the Igala Rising Star”), Alhaji Isah Ameh (Ordinary President), Sadiyat Abah Dee, Zule Zoo, JFO, Eleojo Obaje Peters of Eleojo Foods, PHD fashion designer and many more are very remarkable trailblazers and excellent examples of industry and creativity at work; money will ultimately reside with these ones in the fullness of time, surely. For the records, the creative industry as at 2020 was worth about $1 Trillion (USD) and the global sports market about 76% of Nigeria’s GDP.
In the end, the greatest gift anyone can oblige is availing opportunity and granting assess to access imbedded potentials.
I salute the team (IUFC) and their minders and pray that this (one) success will beget a flurry of successes in a fashion that is resilient, unyielding and sustainable.
*Victor Alewo Adoji, Ph.D, writes from Lokoja.
